Jake Short
by MysteryKid1412
Summary: My attempt of writing a different version of Conan; main character's called Jake Short. Although some things are the same, the cases are different. Enjoy!
1. The Detective Squad Formed!

"You're late again, Short."

These words were not spoken for the first time. In fact, it's the third time this week it had been spoken. Jake Short groaned.

"But sir, it wasn't my…"

"No excuses, Short! Go to the Mrs. Gall's office at once!"

Jake gulped. He knew it was no good. He grabbed his bag and stepped out of his classroom and turned in the direction of Mrs. Gall's office. He was busy thinking up excuses and stories when he reached Mrs. Gall's office. He hastily knocked on the door.

"Come in!"

Mrs. Gall was an elderly woman who governs Barrons, the grade school Jake attends. She was usually very nice, often handing out sweets to the students that behave but there were always the odd rumour, saying that Mrs. Gall turns into a fire-breathing dragon if anyone goes on the wrong side of her. Jake had never done so, nor had he any intention of ever doing so.

Jake closed the door and heard Mrs. Gall sigh.

"Jake Short, what is it this time?" With her grey hair, Mrs. Gall looked like a grandmother who was very tired with her naughty grandson.

"Mr. Fletcher sent me, ma'am," answered Jake.

"And why did he do so?" Mrs. Gall raised her eyebrow. "No, don't tell me. You were late again, weren't you?"

Jake nodded.

"My dear Jake," she sighed, "what am I supposed to do with you?"

Jake said nothing. He stared at his shoes, hoping against hope that the punishment will be light.

"Well, you wrote lines before…you swept the classroom clean too. I just can't think of anymore punishment. What do you say?"

"I don't know ma'am." They stared at each other for a few moments.

Outside, the bell rang, signaling the end of first lesson.

Mrs. Gall looked up from her cup of tea and chuckled lightly. "Saved by the bell, of course, I should've known. Very well, run off, but there better not be a next time!"

Once outside, Jake breathed out. He could hardly believe his luck. He must've broken a school record, escaping from Mrs. Gall's office with nothing more than pit-pat on a back. He hurried off to find his friends.

He found them outside the biology laboratory. There was his best friend, Michael Farrow. Tall and laid-back, Michael was one of the popular dudes in school, next to Jake. He had fair hair with a fringe parting in the middle. There was also Jessica Goodson. Very tomboy-ish with short brown hair, she was always the one to accept disgusting dares and never backs off from a challenge. Next to her stood her best friend, Rachel Blond. She was the opposite of Jessica, being the cutest girl in school with long blond hair.

"Yo, Jake! Over here, man!" Jessica shouted.

The moment Jake joined them, Michael turned to Jake.

"Well, do you have it?" Michael demanded.

Jake looked at him. "Whoa, dude, is that anyway to treat your friend?" And when he got nothing more than a grin and a friendly punch on the arm, he reached into his pocket and took out four badges with two letters on them.

"Awesome man!"

"Cool!"

"Let's wear 'em."

They reached out and took a badge each. The letters DS shone at anyone who happened to glance at them.

Michael beamed at Jake, "Cool, so now we're officially the 'Detective Squad'. We better start advertising, so we can earn more money."

Jake held his badge up. "Guys, look here, see, Uncle Rob told me that if you pull this antenna out and press this button, the badges will turn into a walkie-talkie for us. It works within a 5km radius."

Just then, their biology teacher arrived and they filed in to class.

"Good morning, class," the biology teacher greeted them, "I'll start off by taking the register. Pansy Bouteil, Dean Cully…" The class started muttering and was soon creating such a racket that their biology teacher shouted, "Class! I can't hear myself think! Now, Jean Hannah? Jean Hannah? Not here? Okay, Gregory Johnson…"

Michael nudged Jake. "Whoa, Jean's not here?" he whispered, "Wasn't she the one who was really interested in starting on dissecting the pig's heart or something? Wonder whats with her..."

Jessica scowled. "Who cares about her? Shouldn't we celebrate since we don't have to listen to the spoilt girl brag about her dogs and her house and stuff?"

Jake started saying, "Don't be so…" when he got cut across by Rachel.

"Hey, do you guys wanna go round to her house after school to see her?" Typical Rachel, thought Jake, being so nice and caring.

Jessica scowled and was about to say something nasty when Michael answered, "Sure, but I gotta go home and leave my stuff first."

The others agreed and nothing more was said for the rest of the day on this subject.


	2. An Unexpected Welcome

"Mum! I'm home!" Jake shouted through the bathroom door. His mother was constantly taking a bath and Jake privately thought that if his mother spent anymore time in the bathtub, she might as well cut off her legs and join the mermaids.

"Hi honey, I'm coming out in a second." His mum called out.

"Sure mum!" Jake shouted back. He had a room upstairs and hurried up the stairs and dumped his bag on his bed. He turned and was about to run back down when he caught sight of himself in the mirror and stopped.

Tall and thin he stood, many people mistook him for being a sixth-grader when he was actually just a 10-years-old fourth grader. He had inherited his looks from his mother and his brains from his father. His mother was an actress whom retired at an early age and had once won the Oscar Best-Actress-Award-of-the-year. His father on the other hand, was a famous private detective and had solved countless cases. Oscar, the police inspector of the local region, respected his father a lot and had to always rely on him to solve cases.

"Mum! I'm going out!" He called out.

"Wait a minute, Jake," his mum shouted after him, "Can you return Rachel's handkerchief for me? It's on the kitchen table. She left it here the other day."

"Sure mum!" Jake stuffed Rachel's handkerchief in his pocket and leapt out of the house through the backdoor, with his skateboard in hand.

He met up with the others 10 minutes later and was last to arrive. The others were all there, with their skateboards in hand too.

"Here Rachel, your handkerchief," Jake handed Rachel's handkerchief over.

"Thanks, Jake" Rachel's warm smile made Jake quiver.

"Alright, Jake's here. Let's go." Michael started skateboarding and shouted over his shoulder, "Last one there's a rotten egg!"

They arrived 20 minutes later and Jake immediately sensed that something was wrong.

"Guys, stop." He turned around to look at his friends and pointed, "Look, there are 2 police cars outside Jean's house. I wonder what's wrong."

They crept over quietly over to the big house. It was obviously a place where only rich people can afford to live. There was a garden at the back, with its flowers neatly attended to and the lawn mowed. There was also a private swimming pool with its own diving board. Lastly, there were also walls around the whole area. Jake looked at the house silently. Jean hadn't been wrong; her house was huge. He was about to ring the doorbell when the door opened and police inspector Oscar stood there, talking with his assistant.

"Go to the car and grab the phone tracking equipment here now!" He turned and noticed the children, "Oh hi Jake, how's your father doing? Wait, what are you doing here?"

Inspector Oscar was a large man with a mustache. He constantly wears a brown suit with a brown hat. He was usually very nice but was very strict when it comes to work.

"We're here to visit our classmate, Jean Hannah. Is something wrong, Inspector?" Jake asked.

"Shhhh!" Inspector Oscar looked around and said, "Come in. We'll talk inside."

Inside, they found a distraught looking man with white hair. He was looking very nervous and stood up the moment he saw Inspector Oscar and asked, "Who are these children?"

Jake's first impression of Mr. Hannah was that he was a man who radiated wealth and power. He was wearing a suit, customized by his own private tailor. His English was perfect, with no apparent accent. Yet all this seemed to have been robbed from him. His suit was looking very over worn. His neat white hair was in a mess. He looked as if he had not been taking care of himself properly.

Inspector Oscar replied, "Let me introduce you to them. Children, this is Mr. Hannah, Jean's father. Mr. Hannah, these are classmates of your daughter. Also, this is Jake Short, son of private detective James Short, you remember him?"

The name clearly meant something to Mr. Hannah. He seemed to have forgotten the thing that was bothering him temporarily and shook Jake's hand. "Oh, James Short's son! An honour to meet you!"

However, Jake was not buying it. He shook his head and said, "What's wrong, Inspector?"

The effect of this simple sentence was immense. Both men dropped their cheerful attitudes and exchanged dark looks.

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you, seeing you are James' son," Inspector Oscar replied slowly, "Well you see… Jean's been kidnapped."


	3. The Phone Call

Rachel gasped out loud. Michael dropped his cool attitude and slid down on the floor. Jessica turned very pale and said nothing. Jake, however, took out his notebook and pen and started scribbling.

"Yes," continued Inspector Oscar sadly, "the kidnapper contacted Mr. Hannah here today. He said that a sum of ten million Hong Kong dollars is to be paid for Jean's safe return. He said that he'll call again later and right now we're waiting for the kidnapper to call again."

"Sir!" Inspector Oscar's assistant had returned, "here's the tracking equipment you required."

"Good," Inspector Oscar praised his assistant, "now just attach it to the phone, Tom."

Meanwhile, Michael had picked himself up from the ground. "We'll help," he declared, "for we're the 'Detective Squad'." He proudly showed his badge to Mr. Hannah and Inspector Oscar and said, "Come on Jess. Come on Rachel." Both girls nodded and started to spread themselves out to search for clues.

Inspector Oscar cleared his throat. "Now, I'm not stopping you kids playing, but this is serious business for the police to…" However, he stopped when he realized that nobody was paying any attention to him.

Jake went up to Mr. Hannah and asked him, "The kidnapper took Jean around this morning, right? On the way to school?"

Mr. Hannah looked down at him, "I… yes, he probably did. How did you know?"

Jake pointed, "Down the side of the road, there's a half empty milk bottle. We know that for a start, Jean loved drinking milk on her way to school. We often see her drinking it. If the police do a fingerprint scan on the bottle, chances are, Jean's fingerprints are on it. Also we all know that Jean is an environmentalist, she won't be throwing away rubbish along the side of the road and furthermore, she would've drank the whole thing before throwing it away. The only conclusion I can get is that the milk bottle was forcefully taken away from her, on her way to school."

Mr. Hannah blinked. "Why, that is a brilliant conclusion! But that's exactly the same conclusion Inspector Oscar came up with half an hour ago!" But Jake was not listening anymore. He was being crowded around by Michael, Jessica and Rachel.

"That is good, Jake!"

"How come you're so good at this stuff?"

Just then, they were all interrupted by a piercing noise; a phone call.

Mr. Hannah turned white. He glanced at Inspector Oscar, who picked up the headset connected to the phone and nodded. He then gulped, and picked up the phone. His eyes darted over to Inspector Oscar again, whom gave him a thumbs-up, then to Jake, who leaned his head against the side of the headphone, then to the children in front of him, their eyes full of worry for Jean, then said, "Hello?"

A cold and quiet voice spoke. "Do you have the money yet?" Behind the kidnapper's voice, Jake heard another sound. Some sort of rumbling sound. He leaned closer.

"The…the…ten mil..lion…doll…dollars, yes."

"You didn't call the police, did you? Cos if you did, you can say bye-bye to your daughter…"

"No…I…did…didn't."

"Good now, listen up, cos now I'm gonna tell you where to put the money…"

"Can…can…I…hear…Je…Jean…speak?"

The cold voice chuckled lightly, "Sure, wait a second. Hear Jean, talk to your daddy."

"Dad?" A timid girl's voice spoke.

"Je…Jean, are you…" But Mr. Hannah never got to finish the sentence, because next moment, Jean shouted. "Dad, save me! I'm in a place with many big walls outside and…" The rumbling sound was heard again. _What was that noise?_ Jake thought silently.

Jean never got to finish her sentence too. There was a sound of a dull thud, with the sound of a 'ow' and next moment the kidnapper spoke again, this time hurriedly. "How dare your daughter. I'm gonna make her suffer before she's returned back to you." The kidnapper ignored Mr. Hannah's cries of protest. "Now listen up. Place the money in a suitcase in the rubbish bin outside the UA cinema in Saffern Street at midnight. If you do, your daughter will come home safely." The kidnapper then slammed down the phone.

Inspector Oscar took off his headset. He glanced at his watch, then looked at Mr. Hannah grimly and said, "We have one hour until midnight. We'll have to play by his rules. We'll place newspaper instead of money and arrest him when he goes and retrieves the suitcase, we'll arrest him there."

Mr. Hannah nodded. He speed-dialed a number on his phone and said, "The police said to place newspaper there…. Yes, do it." He got off the phone and was about to say something when Jake interrupted him.

"I'm sorry to bother you, Mr. Hannah, but is there anyone you know who holds a grudge against you?"

Mr. Hannah looked down at Jake thoughtfully and said, "Well, there are a few, I mean, as a lawyer, it's quite hard not to make enemies…"

"Can you tell me who they are?"

"Well, first off, there's a lawyer who hates me because I always win against him. His name is John Flake. He owns a lawyer's firm but my lawyers always beat his'. But I can't really imagine him doing this…"

"Go on."

"Well, there was once a bus driver by the name of Kwan Lin. He was sent to court for drunk driving and I was the lawyer against him. I remember he got sentenced pretty gravely though. I think, it was a fine of five thousand dollars and five years in jail or something? I don't remember clearly, seeing as it was so long ago. He was pretty rough too. He kept shouting at me, promising revenge when he was brought out of court."

"Uh huh."

"Lastly, there's a medical doctor who was also sentenced for practicing illegally. He was to be separated from his family. I was also the lawyer against him and he also promised revenge. His name was Winston Hill."

"Is that all? These three?"

"Yes, I think so."

"Thank you."

The four members of the 'Detective Squad' were now huddled against each other. They were comparing notes.

"What did you guys find?" asked Jake, "Mike, you first."

"I think your hit-and-run theory is probably true," piped Michael, "there was probably a getaway vehicle or something, as burn marks can be found in the middle of the road. It was probably a rather heavy vehicle too, seeing as the burn marks were quite deep. I've also asked around, there was a noisy screech this morning at around 7am. That's around the time we go to school."

"Well done, Rachel, found anything?"

"No, but I overheard from the Inspector that the call was traced to somewhere around this area. Probably a phone booth or something," reported Rachel.

"Nah, it can't be," contradicted Jake, "imagine holding a hostage as you walk along the streets. It'll be too obvious. No, the kidnapper probably called from wherever he was. It's too bad that the police couldn't trace the call. Jess, any luck with the map?"

Jessica was peering at a map just inches away from her nose. "Nope," she called out, "there are few places around here that are still opened but those are all emergency services."

Just then, Inspector Oscar walked up to the children and cleared his throat again. "Uh, Jake, perhaps you and your friends should get going. It's getting pretty late."

Michael overheard and muttered, "Oh no, I don't wanna leave yet…" However, Jake was not listening to either of them. He was walking around in circles, thinking hardly.

_A person who loses lawyer cases, the other one is a bus driver sentenced for drunk driving. The last person was to be sentenced for practicing illegally. All three have enough motive to do so. __The kidnapper couldn't have been too far away. But the only places that are open at this time of night are all emergency services…. Hmmm… A place where there are many big walls… That rumbling sound, what was that? …Who is it though? And where are they?_

But Jake's thoughts were interrupted by a loud cry. "It's too dark to skateboard home? But I don't wanna take the bus this late," whined Rachel, "I know! Inspector, can you take us home?"

_Wait a minute… what?_

Jake looked up. He was trembling with excitement now. He took the map from Jessica, glanced at it and smiled. If his deduction is right, that means that that person did it and he's at that place…

**Before you continue to the next chapter, here's the chance for you, to figure out who the kidnapper is, and where he is hiding.**


	4. The Kidnapper's Hiding Place

It was really dark inside the bus. However, the kidnapper could not risk to operate in light as it would attract attention. Even so, he struck a match and lit a candle and walked up to the little girl who was struggling against some ropes. She was a pretty girl, he thought, or would have been. The girl turned over and saw her kidnapper by candle light. Her eyes widened with horror. The kidnapper chuckled lightly once more and glanced at the old, battered watch which was resting on his arm.

"Well, it's 11:50pm now. I have to be going now. There's money waiting to be retrieved. I won't be coming back here anymore. And unfortunately, I can't let you live, now that you've seen my face." As he said that, the kidnapper pulled a sharp knife from his back pocket.

The girl squiggled and moved to the back of the bus. There were tears coming out of her eyes as she tried to plead with her eyes. The kidnapper raised his knife and was about to come strike when a voice behind said, "Stop."

The kidnapper turned around. He could see a dark silhouette propped up next to the bus door. It was a silhouette of a child. He chuckled. It seems, he thought, that tonight will get very bloody. He turned around and started to walk towards the dark silhouette when it spoke again.

"Being an ex-bus driver, you naturally knew the lay-out of the bus depot. You probably persuaded your friend to let you in tonight, using an excuse such as, 'I left something here in the locker room before I went to jail. Can I come and pick it up tonight?' Your friend let you in and you brought Jean here. Am I correct?"

The kidnapper had stopped. He was staring at the dark silhouette and shouted, "Who…Who are you?" He raised his candle. There stood four children. A grade school boy stood in front, hands in his pockets, he almost looked undisturbed as he stood there, grinned and said, "Jake Short, private detective, leader of the 'Detective Boys'."

Jessica continued, "The burn marks in front of Jean's house were marks made from the buses, which you used as a get-away vehicle."

Michael nodded, "The big walls that Jean referred to over the phone were actually buses. In the dark, it would look as if there were many big walls around her."

Rachel chirped, "Yes, also, the rumbling sound we heard over the phone was actually just buses which came here to be parked for the night."

Jake concluded, "Moreover, being the only bus depot around here, we concluded that you must be here. Right, Mr. Kwan Lin?"

The kidnapper had started walking towards the children again. But as soon as he heard his name, he dropped to his knees. He was now crying and was howling uncontrollably.

Jake continued, "I'm guessing you did this for revenge for being sentenced so heavily 5 years ago, no?"

Mr. Lin sobbed, "It was all his fault. I lost everything and suffered 5 miserable years in jail. I was going to make him pay!" Mr. Lin picked up the knife he dropped and looked at Jake. He seemed to have regain some of his madness. "Move out of the way kids, before I run you down."

At that moment, the bus depot's lights went on. Mr. Lin blinked heavily against the light as he heard Jake say; "Well, Mr. Lin. Let this be a lesson to you. _Crime never pays off. _Give it up now, Mr. Lin. I've already told the police."

At these words, Mr. Lin's courage failed him again. He dropped the knife once more and did not retaliate when the police came on board and arrested him.

The 'Detective Boys' looked at Mr. Lin sadly as he was brought away. They felt sorry for the way Mr. Lin had been treated but they cheered up when Inspector Oscar told them that they've done a good job.

"Job well done, kids," Inspector Oscar beamed at them, "I'm sorry we had to send you in first, it was to lower the kidnapper's guard, so he wouldn't have done anything foolish.

"Yes! The 'Detective Boys' have scored a point!" Michael punched the air as he jumped around jubilantly.

"It was all thanks to Jake though," Jessica pointed out, "if he didn't tell us, you wouldn't be here."

Michael scowled at Jessica just as Rachel gave Jake another warm smile. Jake's heart was fluttering again.

Mr. Hannah walked over with Jean. "Thank you four very much," Mr. Hannah said, "especially Jake. You really are your father's son."

Jake was surprised, "Did you really know my father? I thought you were only pretending."

Mr. Hannah looked surprised too, "Yes I did, your father helped me with a case a couple of months ago. I have to say, your deductions are as good as his."

"Yeah thank you, Jake," Jean said shyly.

"Now what do you guys say to a triple scoop ice-cream at 'Ben and Jerry's'?" offered Mr. Hannah, "my treat?"

"Yes please!" the rest of the 'Detective Boys' chorused.

"Jake?" Rachel turned to ask him.

Jake smiled and said, "Yeah sure."


End file.
